


Can’t Fight the Moonlight

by SaijSpellhart



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Werewolf, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-03-31 19:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13982226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaijSpellhart/pseuds/SaijSpellhart
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir discover all too late that Hawk Moth’s latest akuma is a werewolf.With Ladybug bitten right before the full moon, Chat’s partner goes missing just when he needs her most. The little black wolf he finds in her absence is oddly friendly and affectionate with him.A series of werewolf LB drabbles written in response to a prompt by Storypanda88, on tumblr.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These drabbles were written based on a prompt from Storypanda88. I’ll add to them as I feel inspired.
> 
> The title is thanks to my friends, who know music references are my weakness, and shamelessly exploited it.

At about 9pm the night prior she got bit.

It was a wolf akuma, and Ladybug went down like a rock, blood everywhere.

Chat Noir clearly remembered the blood, and his Lady’s writhing body when she hit the ground.

Then there were her screams, loud enough to drown out his own, and send him reeling so hard he thought he was going to vomit.

Somewhere among the confusion the akuma got away, and that was the night before the full moon. It disappeared without a trace.

Within the next 24 hours, Chat learned the identity of his partner -the lady he was head over heels in love with for the last four years- and he also watched her miraculously heal before his own eyes. When her transformation dropped he took her to her parents, and to everyone’s astonishment the wound began stitching itself shut and healing up before they could even take her to see a doctor.

And now she was missing.

With a full moon high in the sky, his partner gone AWOL, a wolf akuma still on the loose, Chat could only follow the eerie howling in the distance leading him towards the Parc Montsouris.

It was a dense and expansive park with lots of trees and dense, lush foliage. Perfect for a wolf akuma to hide. Maybe if he could just corner the beast and trap it until he could find Ladybu- Marinette, then they could put an end to this nightmare together.

Chat Noir propelled himself through the trees, using his supernatural hearing to pinpoint the source of the howling, and stopped in the branches of a tree overlooking the Petite Ceinture, an overgrown and abandoned railway that carved its way around many of the districts in Paris.

It was possible the railway tunnels were how the akuma was moving without being seen, especially during the day. Some of the tunnels went on for awhile and were dark as night even in broad daylight; rat infested, and deserted.

Chat heard another howl echo from the mouth of an ivy covered tunnel. The vines obscuring the entrance from his view, but his keen eyes still spotted movement in the darkness.

Something was down there. It had to be the akuma.

He waited patiently for the wolf to exit the tunnel and start its hunt for the night. The moment it cleared the mouth, he intended to drop down on it and wrestle it to the ground. If he was lucky, he might even be able to incapacitate it.

Movement again, a shadow brushed against the ivy and disturbed the ferns along the ground.

Chat tensed, his muscles coiling and preparing to pounce on his prey.

The shadow moved from the tunnel mouth, stepping into the illumination of the full moon. Ethereal light bathed a very small black wolf, and Chat didn’t need to look twice to recognize this wasn’t the akuma. It was a completely strange wolf, sleek, feminine and with eyes so cerulean it was as if God himself reached out and crafted them straight from the depths of the ocean.

_Another akuma_? He thought. Even if it wasn’t the weathered, old and scarred grey wolf from the night before, it still didn’t belong in Paris. It just meant one more doggy he had to wrangle. Perhaps Hawk Moth made a whole pack this time. That thought made him shiver, ever since becoming the wielder of the cat Miraculous, he developed a bit of an aversion to canines. He wasn’t afraid, but they made him... edgy... uncomfortable.

Chat only hesitated for a moment. Collecting his resolve, he dropped from the trees and tackled the animal to the ground, becoming a sudden black mass of tangled limbs and snarling.

The small black wolf proved much harder to keep hold of than he thought, it struggled and snapped, sharp teeth coming inches from biting down on his face. It was also very strong, much stronger than its petite size would suggest.

They rolled along the ground, crushing ferns beneath them and tearing up patches of grass and clods of dirt, both combatants struggling to overpower the other.

It was only Chat’s perpetual bad luck that he could blame, when his head struck a railroad tie. The force was enough to knock him for a loop, his arms released the wolf’s neck. The creature slipping away to snarl at him a few feet away.

He was dazed, the stone walls that ran parallel to the railway were spinning, and the moon seemed to be in several places at once. The blow to his head coupled with the dizzying, rolling brawl, was doing him no favors.

The black mass of fur and fangs closed in on him, blue eyes blazing with fright and fury and Chat closed his green eyes waiting for the inevitable attack to happen. Waiting to feel those long white fangs dig into his body.

But they never came.

Chat Noir cracked his cat eyes, only to see the wolf sniffing him, starting with the bit of blood on the railroad tie, pointed nose moving to his hand, and then up to his neck.

A long pathetic whimper spilled from the wolf’s chest, and a warm wet tongue slipped out to run the length of his cheek till it reached the edge of his mask.

It licked him again, and he made a noise of pain. His head slowly regaining its clarity as his equilibrium returned.

A cold wet nose pressed against his own, and paws dug at the leather of his suit.

“You’re not going to bite me?” Chat couldn’t believe it. Never had he ever been this lucky, and he couldn’t think of a reason for the change in this wolf’s behavior.

The only response he received was the wolf nuzzling itself against his side, slipping paws beneath his neck as it began licking the small wound on his head, cleaning the blood out of his blonde hair.


	2. Chapter 2

There was something very kind about the little black wolf, and it felt very different from the akuma he and Ladybug had engaged the previous night.

With hesitance, chat reached up and scratched behind the wolf’s head, and was pleased when it responded by leaning into his hands, completely undeterred by the claws on the tips of his gloved fingers.

A low rumbling growl broke Chat out of the daze he’d been lulled into from the blow to his head and the comforting lick of his canine adversary. Pain lanced through him when he rolled to look at the top of the stone wall that ran the right side of the railway.

There at the top towered a very large, and scarred grey wolf, and he recognized it as the akuma from the night before. It’s lips were pulled back, revealing rows of long white fangs, and it’s golden eyes blazed brightly, like staring into the pits of hell.

A louder more terrifying rumble gurgled out of its throat, and Chat could see the muscles of its neck tightening and quivering as it made the noise.

Before he could make a move to get off the ground, two black paws trapped either side of his head. The smaller black wolf had maneuvered to stand over him, hunkering its body protectively low, bristling till all its fur stood on end, and baring its own teeth. Even with its fur standing up, the black wolf looked tiny in comparison to the beast up on the wall.

There wasn’t any chance in hell it could win in a fight. Yet, there it stood, guarding Chat, even as its own body trembled violently in fear.

It was clear neither wolf were comrades, or pack mates, or anything.

In that moment, Chat Noir had a decision to make. Neither of them could take on the akuma, and if he fled, the small wolf would surely die. So he did the only thing he could think of.

Chat jumped from the ground and scooped the black wolf into his arm, clutching it tightly to his shoulder, he snatched his baton from the back of his belt, and extended it to send them both flying out of the Petite Ceinture and across the park.

He expected the creature in his arms to begin struggling, flailing and crying out. But to his surprise it did not and he could only assume it must’ve been from the pure shock of hurdling through the Parisian sky.

Chat didn’t stop, and kept pole-vaulting through the city until he landed them safely on a flat roof, well-illuminated by a combination of the full moon, and a glowing billboard. If the akuma were tracking them it would take awhile for it to catch up, and they were far from ground level, giving them a decent vantage point.

Once they were no longer moving, the wolf began wriggling in his arms, and he released it.

And realized for the first time that it wasn’t really all black. In the new light there was actually a faint reddish brindled pattern in the black. Bits of burnt coppery reds, breaking up what he had thought was solid black. And the wolf was wearing earrings, red earrings with black spots, just like Ladybug’s Miraculous.

“M-my L-l-lady?” Chat had to sit down, and he did so against an air vent.

The wolf which was snuffling around the roof top, stopped to look over the edge of the building, before it snuffled back over to Chat.

“You can’t be Ladybug,” he began rambling. “You’re a dog, she’s a girl. She’s a superhero, my partner... shit! I can’t fix this without her! What am I gonna do?”

The wolf made a, “groof,” noise, but didn’t seem concerned with his little break down.

Chat approached the wolf, and snatched its hind leg, pulling up to get a good look at its underside. “Shit, you’re even a girl.”

The female wolf didn’t seem to appreciate his intrusive investigation and snapped at him, causing Chat Noir to drop her leg and back off.

“Where’s your Kwami? Tikki? Did you transform before turning into a wolf?”

Her only response was to flop against the roof, and begin disinterested panting.

“Ladybug?” He tried calling to her.

She flicked her ears, and briefly glanced at him.

So he tried again, “M-Marinette?”

“Rof.” She whipped around, blue-eyes glittering in the light, and tilted her head.

Chat’s knees buckled, unable to hold him any more and he collapsed against the roof. “It is you...” his stressed silence devolved into a mess of nervous laughter. Minutes later the laughter gave way and he began sobbing.

His face was buried in hands, claws threading through messy blonde locks, he didn’t even notice that the wolf had moved. Not until a cold damp nose pushed between his fingers and pressed into the heated skin on his cheek.

He lifted his face away from his hands, and was greeted by a hot tongue swiping the tears off his face. The wolf -no, _Ladybug_ , had realized he was crying and was attempting to comfort him.

Whether she actually understood what upset him, or the precarious situation they were in, Chat didn’t know. But his partner -even whilst wearing the skin of a beast- was proving she was there for him.

“May-b-be,” he started, choking back a sob, “you ch-change back during the day. Like a werewolf.” It was the most he could hope for.

A black paw scratched against the bracer on his arm, and she hopped up to snuffle his hair, as Chat obligingly scratched at the mane of thick fur around her neck.

“I have to sneak you home with me.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sneaking a wolf into his bedroom was an interesting adventure. She was small for a wolf, _sure_ , -only about the size of a grown husky- small enough that he might be able to pass her off as a dog of some sort. The akuma was much larger, easily the size of a black bear, and scary as hell.

He brought her in through his bedroom window, the same way he came and went as Chat Noir, the challenge had been convincing her to hold still long enough to get her home. After the threat of the akuma had passed she was less keen on being whisked away over the Paris rooftops.

But he’d done it. Ladybug was in his bedroom.

And nose deep in his dirty laundry basket.

Chat dropped his transformation, and heaved a relieved sigh. The crackle of green energy heralding the reappearance of his kwami.

“Oh God! What a night!” Exclaimed Plagg, throwing himself onto Adrien’s bed in an exhausted heap. “Cheese please,” he added, voice muffled by the bedding.

Adrien kneeled next to the mini-fridge to fetch his kwami’s meal, and barely registered that Ladybug had pulled her face from his laundry and was snuffling her way around his room.

He returned to the kwami, with an offering of Camembert, and sank down on the bed next to the little god of destruction. “You’re not even going to acknowledge that Ladybug is a wolf now?”

Plagg was already stuffing his stumpy muzzle when he spared the canine in the room an insouciant look. “It’s a change.”

“Plagg!” Adrien reproved.

“It’s not a _bad_ change,” the Kwami amended.

“What am I supposed to do?” Adrien fell back on the bed, dramatically flinging both arms. “I can’t cleanse an akuma without her, and I doubt she can perform her powers in this form. That monster is probably running around Paris right now, biting people and making more wolves.”

“Guess you’ll have to wait sand see if she changes back in the morning. Sounds like a werewolf to me.”

“And what if it isn’t? What if she doesn’t change back?”

Plagg shrugged, clearly unconcerned by the situation, “You watch enough anime, I’m sure you can adapt to the furry lifestyle. I believe you kids call it yiffing?”

Adrien grabbed a pillow and smothered the Kwami beneath it.

“Hey!” Plagg phased through the pillow to sit on top of it. “Watch the cheese!” The green-eyed glare he received from the kwami was accompanied by Plagg picking up a piece of cheese and eating it with indignant slow chewing.

“I should get Ladybug something to eat, she must be hungry too.”

The moment he said it, a sudden weight dropped onto the bed, and Plagg released an unholy howl. Adrien sat up just in time to see Ladybug’s wolf jaws clamp down around his kwami like she was snatching up a rat.

There was a moment of shear panic, in which Adrien was honestly concerned for Plagg’s safety, but then the black cat-god dissolved in the wolf’s mouth and instantly reformed to swoop down, snatch the remainder of the cheese and flee to a shelf on the other side of the room where no one could reach him.

“She tried to eat me!” Plagg wailed melodramatically.

“She’s probably hungry,” defended Adrien, he glanced at the wolf with its upper-half sprawled over his bed. She was watching Plagg with a curious look, as if she wasn’t sure how the critter managed to get away, and wanted to try and catch it again.

She licked her chops, noisily, and Plagg responded by blowing a raspberry at her.

Ten minutes later, Adrien snuck back up to his room from the kitchen, attempting to smuggle a package of grilled chicken, and fish, under his shirt. Both of which had been prepped for his lunches, and meant to go on salads, or accompany salads.

He barely made it into the bedroom, closing the door behind him, before a dark brindled mass collided with his chest. Suddenly he was on the floor, and Ladybug was desperately snuffling about his night shirt.

A whine spilled from her throat and she pawed at his torso.

“Just don’t eat me,” Adrien laughed, pulling up his shirt to reveal the spoils taken from the kitchen.

Ladybug seized the bag of chicken between her teeth and dragged it off across the room where she began to rend it apart, and scarf down the pieces of meat that fell out.

Adrien got up, still holding the fish, and moved to sit on the bed and watch her make a mess of the bag. He pulled a piece of fish out, and nibbled on it absently.

It didn’t take Ladybug long to eat all the chicken and leave a scattering of mutilated plastic in her wake. She wandered over to Adrien and fixed him with the saddest stare he’d ever seen, resting her large head on his leg.

“You want the fish now too?”

She whined.

“Pfff, _dogs_.” Plagg scoffed from the safety of his perch. “Such pathetic beggars.”

Adrien pulled out a piece of fish and fed it to her. Then another, and another. And continued to do so until he lured her onto the bed and she was practically laying across his lap.

“All gone.” He bared his hands to her, and let her lick the fish residue off his fingers. “ _Yeowch_!” Adrien ripped his hand away and shook it.

Ladybug had nipped him in her eagerness. It wasn’t quite a bite, but the teeth had pinched and the pain had been enough to startle him.

She looked appropriately ashamed, with her fluffy triangular ears drooping, and her head tilted down.

“She try to eat you too?” Plagg sniggered.

“It was an accident.” Adrien ran a hand over the fur on her head, to assure her he wasn’t mad.

She leaned into his touch, and he continued to pet her, running fingers through the thick silky fur around her neck and shoulders.

“I hope you change back in the morning.”

When he decided to go to bed for the night, he led Ladybug to the couch to sleep. She seemed compliant enough, and climbed onto the cushions with minimal prompting.

“Goodnight, my lady.” He whispered.

A blink and the cheerful thump of her wagging tail was her only response.

Adrien retreated for his own bed, and crawled under the covers, using the remote on his night stand to shut off the lights. Plagg was right, it had been a long night, and he was certainly feeling it.

No sooner had his eyes shut, and he’d gotten comfortable when the edge of the bed depressed. Seconds later a large, dark, and very furry mass crawled over him, settling down against the pillows next to his head.

“Ladybug?” He propped himself up on one arm to look at her, but she was nothing but a dark form on the bed. “You want to sleep in my bed? With me?” He wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, she was a wolf right now, but did she know what she was doing?

He felt her reach up in the dark and lick the side of his face before rubbing her whole head against him and nuzzling into his neck.

“Alright, I guess.”

Plagg made a gagging noise from somewhere in the room, but Adrien ignored him and snuggled down next to the brindled wolf. He couldn’t quite ignore the swell of warmth that blossomed in his chest. His Lady, albeit of canine persuasion at the moment, wanted to cuddle with him and sleep in his bed... with _him_.

He reached an arm out to hug her closer. “Goodnight, Bugaboo.”


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien woke up first, thanks to Plagg.

The little cat god was prodding him repeatedly in the nose and hissing his name, and it finally annoyed him enough that he opened his eyes. Just to stare into two comically over-sized pools of toxic green.

“What do you want?”

Plagg narrowed his eyes to mere slits. “She’s human again.”

Adrien blinked, “...huh?”

A little black paw motioned toward the area around Adrien’s head. “She’s not a wolf anymore, wake up and get out of bed before you scar the poor girl for life.”

His sleep addled brain quickly began assembling the puzzle pieces, and the rest of his senses started taking notes of his surroundings, how warm his bed was, how his head seemed to be resting against something... not pillows, the smell of another person, mixed with the fading earthy scent of a canine.

This caused him to bolt up straight, realize his head had been propped against Marinette’s chest, and she had been curled around his head, shoulders and back side.

The action ripped the blankets off the both of them, which startled Marinette awake. This gave Adrien an eyeful of just how naked she was. She was all naked.

He screamed.

She screamed.

Plagg laughed.

Adrien tossed the comforter at Marinette so she could cover up her body, then tumbled off the bed and away so she could have her space while he fought to calm down. His skin felt like it was on fire, his cheeks were so hot it was a wonder his face didn’t combust.

He really didn’t think it through when he let her crawl in bed with him the night before, when she was still a wolf.

_I slept on her boobs, and her naked body was snuggled up to my back!_

“What the fuck! Why am I in your bed!?” Marinette was scrambling to cover herself with the comforter, tugging the edges around her body. Her skin was stained redder than his.

“You were a wolf last night!” He finally regained enough sense of thought to turn his back, and give her privacy.

“Excuse me?!”

“An actual wolf, like an animal.” His eyes darted around for Plagg, but the Kwami was conveniently hiding. “Not like in bed or anything- I mean- you were in _my_ bed, but not like that!

“ _Marinette_...” a weak moan managed to draw the attention of both teens.

“Oh my God, Tikki! What happened!?”

It was everything Adrien could do to stay planted and not turn around to look at Ladybug’s Kwami. “Is she okay? She wasn’t with you last night.”

“I’m okay...” Tikki mumbled. “I’m just hungry.”

“Does she eat cheese?” He asked, already edging his way over to the mini fridge where he kept Plagg’s camembert.

“I usually feed her sweets from my parent’s bakery.” Marinette explained, there was an edge to her voice that made Adrien aware she was on the verge of a break down. So much was going on, it was probably a sensory overload.

Adrien took this opportunity to leave the room, careful not to run and panic her further, as soon as he cleared the door and was out of sight he bolted down the stairs. In the kitchen he began searching for anything Tikki might possibly eat. It took him a few minutes but he managed to locate a jar of honey in the pantry and raced back up the stairs with it.

“Ladybug- er- Marinette, I got honey, does she like honey?”

“Honey will be fine,” Tikki chirped from the bed, she fluttered weakly across the room to land on Adrien’s shoulder.

It startled him for a moment, having Ladybug’s Kwami so close, before he collected himself and popped the jar open, then realized he’d forgotten a spoon.

Tikki seemed to notice him hesitate and dither for a moment because she waved her paws and said, “just give me the whole jar. I’m gonna need it.”

Adrien complied, then stood in the middle of the room stupidly, trying his best not to look at Marinette, who was still naked among his bed sheets.

“Adrien,” Tikki started, after a mouthful of honey, “Marinette needs some clothes.”

 _Right_! Mechanically he started for his dresser and began rummaging through the drawers for something that might fit her. _Clothes are a thing. Girls needs clothes._

Tikki began whispering to him from his shoulder, “she’s in shock right now, I don’t think she realizes you are Chat Noir.”

“Should I tell her?” He whispered back. “That’ll make her feel better, right? Knowing she woke up in Chat’s bed and not a friend’s from school.”

“No!” Hissed Tikki. “She already has to cope with being a werewolf, and _this_ whole situation. I don’t think an identity reveal on top of all this is the best option right now.”

Adrien wasn’t sure he agreed, but Tikki was her Kwami so he silently accepted. He returned to the bed with a handful of his own clothes, things he hoped were small enough to fit Marinette’s smaller frame. Over the last few years he’d had a few growth spurts, and being a hero had caused him to put on some muscle and gain a little bulk. He wasn’t the same gangly kid he used to be.

Marinette looked up when he offered the clothes, he kept his face turned away and his cheeks still burned intensely. She stammered out a, “thank you,” and took the clothes from him.

Adrien turned his back to give her privacy while she changed, “I- uh... can give you a ride home, or you can transform and- uh... leave through the window... if you’d like?”

Something clicked at his words and Marinette broke.

“Oh God, you know I’m Ladybug. Tikki is going to kill me!”

“I’m not going to kill you, Marinette” the Kwami said, almost tonelessly from Adrien’s shoulder.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Adrien tried to reassure uselessly.

“I need to get home, my parents are probably worried sick! And I need to find Chat, there’s still an Akuma and...” she trailed off and began padding across the room wearing Adrien’s clothes.

Before Adrien could say another word, or voice the offer of a ride again she was already calling for her Kwami.

“Tikki, spots on!”

The blinding flash of ethereal pink forced him to shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, Ladybug was disappearing out his bedroom window.

“Tikki has her hands full this time.” Sniggered Plagg. He zipped down from the shelf he’d been hiding on all morning, “if she is a werewolf, we’re gonna have to find her again tonight.”


	5. Chapter 5

Plagg assured him over and over that Tikki would talk to Marinette, and calm her down. That there was no reason for Adrien (or Chat) to involve himself, as he could potentially send her spiraling into another panic attack.

And Adrien reluctantly accepted this. He had other responsibilities, a schedule, possibly even a photo shoot where the photographer would whine that he was getting a tad too muscular.

 _They were endurance muscles,_ he thought with a huff.

But that didn't stop him from blowing that all off, transforming, and seating his ass on nearby building, just in case Ladybug came looking for her partner. Besides, they had an akuma to track down, and judging from the news, several dog attacks had been reported all over the city, resulting in many bitten victims.

Chat shuddered as he closed the screen on his staff. _More werewolves._

Reminded of their impending crisis, he chanced a look at the time and then the sun. He'd wasted so much time and it was late afternoon already.

"C'mon Ladybug," he breathed, tapping his claws against the roofing tiles. "God, I hope you're alright."

He checked the news again for any sign of the akuma's whereabouts, but so far the wolf was keeping a low profile. It attacked people who were alone, savagely biting them, before running off again.

A muted thud alerted him to Ladybug's arrival, and he turned to find her perched on the roof behind him.

Chat's heart tripped over itself a few times at the sight of her, but he reigned it back in when he saw the look on her face. She looked grave, as if she were barely keeping it together.

"The akuma," said Ladybug, resolutely.

"That can wait a moment, my lady," Chat whispered. He patted the rooftop next to him, inviting her to take a seat. After a moment's hesitation, she did, but there was a space between them as if she were forcing distance.

Chat opened his arms in invitation, "Please come here and talk to me for a minute?"

Her eyes darted over his face, searching and unsure, and Chat felt a pang of agony every time his heart beat.

"Please?"

That last please was all it took, and Ladybug closed the distance between them, her arms wrapping around his waist, and her shoulders shuddering from what he only guessed were strained nerves.

"It'll be okay," he assured, hugging her tightly to his chest. "Did Tikki explain what happened?"

"A l-little," she started. He continued to hold onto her while she spoke. "She said I was bitten by a werewolf akuma and that you brought me home to my parents. I was so confused yesterday when I woke up after being bitten, I went out looking for you. But the sun went down before I could find you, and Tikki says I changed into a wolf. Since I was transformed when it happened the suit dissolved away, but Tikki stayed trapped inside the earrings."

"That must have been frightening for you." He whispered.

Ladybug shrugged in his arms. "I don't remember anything after I changed. But I woke up in Adrien Agreste's room this morning. Chat, how did I get in Adrien's room!?"

Chat almost told her the truth right then and there, but he remembered Tikki's warning. Telling her now would ruin whatever comfort she found in Chat's presence. So he bit his tongue and decided to wait.

"Maybe he realized you were Ladybug, and he decided to look out for you?"

"I woke up naked."

Chat hoped she couldn't feel him cringe. "D-do you think he tried something untoward?" He didn't want to ask, but he had to. A part of him had to set things straight if she thought he...

"No!" Ladybug jerked in his embrace before curling up tighter. "No... I don't think he did anything. Adrien would never be like that, he's one of my best friends."

Chat could feel his whole body relax, and it felt like a weight had been lifted from his entire chest cavity.

"But I am never gonna live this down," she muttered, and he didn't have to see her face to know it was stained red in mortification.

For several minutes they were both quiet, completely wrapped up in each other, physically comfortable in the other's embrace. Ladybug was staring off across the city, and if asked, Chat would've said that he was too; but really his eyes were closed, just happy that she was alright.

"I'm going to become a wolf again tonight. Aren't I?" She finally whispered.

"I don't know," he whispered back. "But let's find that akuma and defeat it before that happens."

Ladybug pulled away from him to look him square in the eyes. He could see a new determination burning there, replacing the earlier trepidation. "And what if I change again?"

He shot her a reassuring smile, "Then things might get a little _hairy_ , bugaboo."


	6. Chapter 6

_They found the akuma too late._

Leu Garoul, (as it came to be known via the news network) did its best avoiding the two superheroes, and they weren't able to corner it until just before sunset. They chased sightings of it all across the the city, and just as Chat suspected the previous night, it seemed the akuma was using the Petite Ceinture as a means to get around Paris without being seen.

Finally at one of the tunnel entrances to the abandoned railway they caught up to the enormous old grey wolf. It greeted them with menacing yellow eyes, and bared teeth.

"Hello there, Le Growl!" Chat gave the wolf a two-fingered salut from atop a nearby building. "We've finally caught up with you!"

Ladybug landed beside him on the roof, peering over the edge at the monstrous wolf covered in scars. She shuddered at the sight of it, making eye contact with the wolf and prompting Chat to turn his attention to her.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know..." Ladybug bared her own teeth at the akuma, and her posture hunched up as if she were bristling.

Leu Garoul snarled up at her, and kicked the dirt.

Ladybug's behavior reminded Chat that they were on a time limit, and he chanced a look at the setting sun. "Bug..." he started.

A returning snarl ripped from Ladybug's throat, and she took a step closer to the edge of the roof.

"Ladybug, the sun," Chat tried again. "Maybe we should retreat for now, and try again tomorrow."

She wasn't listening to him anymore.

" _Noooo_!" He lunged forward, his claws just missing her.

Ladybug leapt off the rooftop and landed on the tracks of the Petite Ceinture. Spurred by the setting sun, and the presence of the other wolf, Chat watched his partner begin to change right before his eyes.

She writhed for a moment, before falling forward on all fours. Her back arched as the magical spotted super-suit dissolved into her earrings, and by the time the flash of magic had faded, a small brindled wolf had taken her place. She was still writhing a bit as her bones shifted, her body finishing the change. Chat noted that she was draped in Marinette's clothes, but they didn't fit her frame anymore, sliding off her body as the wolf wriggled free of them.

Ladybug -now a wolf- recovered from the change and faced the akuma.

Chat Noir watched in horror as his partner challenged the grey wolf that was easily twice her size. There she was, hackles up, her tail straight out and slightly raised.

Leu Garoul feinted a lunge at her, and Ladybug's posture wavered, her body beginning to tremble. The akuma recognized the weakness easily, its eyes blazing like fire as it peeled back its lips and bared all of its terrifying fangs.

When Ladybug didn't back down Chat knew something had to be done. In a one on one fight of pure brute strength, she couldn't win. She was no doubt smarter and faster, but this wasn't a fight that favored her best attributes. He had a feeling his Lady was too spirited to back down from this opposing wolf, but he was not in a position to swoop down and grab her, and still make a clean getaway.

Chat launched himself from the roof and landed right next to Ladybug, assuming an aggressive posture of his own. He dug his claws into the soil, arched his back and lashed his belt tail wildly behind him. A sound he didn't even realize he could make spilled from his own throat. It was an eerie throaty yowl that traveled the space around them and echoed down the nearby tunnels.

His sudden display caused Leu Garoul to retreat back a few steps, assessing the new threat.

If Chat Noir were being honest with himself he was terrified. Their adversary was even larger than he was and he shuddered to imagine what those fangs could do if they caught hold of him. Even if by some miracle they managed to defeat the akuma, there was no way he could cleanse it, and he had nothing to trap it in. They needed to retreat, and Ladybug needed to be human, and they needed to work out a clear plan of action, as "find the akuma and defeat it before sundown," clearly wasn't the smartest move.

Just as he was sure Leu Garoul would call him out on his posturing, Chat saw something reddish black move in his peripheral vision. The next moment he felt Ladybug press herself close to his side, and vicious snarl spilled from her throat again. This time the only thing shuddering was her neck muscles from the rumbling of her vocal chords. Her posture once again asserting her power.

When the akuma showed the smallest sign of hesitation she step forward and bared her own full set of teeth. Chat pressed close to her flank, hoping to convey that he had her back.

And that appeared to be enough, for now.

Leu Garoul looked between the two of them quickly, gave one last bark of defiance, then bolted for the tunnels of the Petite Ceinture.

It almost seemed as if Ladybug were about to give chase, but Chat collapsed to the ground next to her, trembling from raw nerves and the adrenaline rush from the showdown. She paused to whine at him.

"I'm okay," he assured. "Just give me a moment. I thought he was going to kill you."

Her cold nose pressed against the side of his face, soon followed by a hot wet tongue that began swiping enthusiastically over his cheek. He reached out to thread his claws through the dense fur around her neck, and breathed out a huge sigh of relief.

"We did it! You and me, bugaboo!" He whispered excitedly against her fur. "We scared him off. Le Growl is afraid of us."

Ladybug probably didn't understand his excitement, but she shook happily when he brought his arms around to hug her, and her tail was thumping a million miles an hour.

But their triumph was not to last. An eerie howl split the night off in the distance, and echoed down the railway tunnels. It was answered mere seconds later by half a dozen return howls all over the city.


End file.
